Justin Verlander beats Rangers, nears milestones

With six scoreless innings Tuesday night, Justin Verlander improved to 19-6 and lowered his AL-best ERA to 2.50.

Photo: Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Justin Verlander struck out eight through six shutout innings Tuesday night and got some timely support from his defense, including the returning Carlos Correa, plus home runs from Yuli Gurriel, Alex Bregman and Yordan Alvarez for a 4-1 Astros win over the Rangers.

Verlander (19-6) scattered four singles and drew within 11 of his 3,000th career strikeout, and the Astros pulled within a game of their third consecutive 100-win season while shaving their magic number to three to clinch the American League West.

The Astros, meanwhile, struck out eight times and were limited to seven hits in seven innings off Rangers righthander Lance Lynn, but three went for distance: Gurriel’s opposite-field shot in the fifth and back-to-back homers by Bregman and Alvarez in the sixth.

Bregman’s homer landed on the train tracks atop left field, 387 feet from home plate, and Alvarez followed with a prodigious 454-foot blast that landed just to the right of the batter’s eye in center field.

“We have played with an urgency even when others are telling us we don’t have to,” said manager A.J. Hinch. “We’re trying to win as many games as we can. We want to win the division, and then we’ll get to whatever is next for us

“The attitude, the energy, the way we go about our business, I couldn’t be prouder of this group. I can’t wait to get to the ballpark tomorrow and win another ballgame.”

Verlander had 56 strikes among 87 pitches, and the Rangers were repeatedly foiled by Houston’s defense as well.

In the first inning, Elvis Andrus singled to the left side with one out and with Willie Calhoun at the plate was thrown out by catcher Robinson Chirinos trying to steal second. Calhoun walked, but Nomar Mazara grounded out to end the inning.

After Verlander fanned two in the second, Delino DeShields bounced one off the front of the pitcher’s mound that got past Verlander and trickled to Jose Altuve, who tracked it down and left his feet for the throw to first, which was in time to get DeShields.

Correa, playing in his first game since being sidelined for almost a month with back discomfort, signaled his return with a strong throw to end the fifth inning.

DeShields dropped a one-out bloop hit into short right field, but Verlander induced a slow grounder by catcher Jose Trevino to the right side of the infield.

Altuve came in to get the ball and flipped it sideways to Correa, who stepped on second for the force out and gunned the relay to first to get Trevino.

Another defensive play courtesy of Chirinos and Correa got Verlander out of a potential jam in the sixth.

The righthander issued a two-out walk to Calhoun, who reached base for the third consecutive at bat, then put an 0-2 pitch to Mazara in the dirt. Chirinos tracked down the ball and threw to Correa, who tagged Calhoun on the shoulder when the Rangers outfielder popped off the bag.

The double play featuring Correa’s throw to get Trevino impressed Verlander.

“His arm strength and what he can do at shortstop affected the game for sure,” Verlander said. “ Being able to turn that bang-bang double play, I don’t know if any other shortstop in the game can turn that. He has one of the best arms I’ve ever seen.”

Correa struck out three times in four at-bats but said, “I feel healthy, which is the most important thing right now.”

For the Rangers, Lynn (14-11) struck out four in his first run through the Astros’ order and five of the first 10 batters he faced, allowing only a one-out base hit by Altuve in the first inning through four innings.

The Astros finally got to Lynn in the fifth. After Gurriel’s home run, which gave him 100 RBIs for the season, Michael Brantley singled to right and Josh Reddick walked, but George Springer flied out to the warning track in center to end the inning.

Bregman and Alvarez followed with homers in the sixth, and the Astros added a run in the seventh when Chirinos blooped a base hit to left that dropped among three Rangers players.

Chirinos reached second and, with no one covering third, beat Rangers second baseman Roughned Odor to the base for his first triple of the year. He scored one out later on an infield hit by Springer.

“He’s (Lynn) tough,” Bregman said. “Every fastball he throws does something different. Some of them rise, some of them sink, some of them run, some of them cut, and they’re all at 95 (mph). And it’s a heavy ball, so if you don’t exactly square one up, you’re out.”

But the Astros, Hinch said, do what they generally do, which is hang in and eventually get the hits they need.

“We focus on today’s game, and that’s it,” he said. “We faced a real good pitcher, and we hung in and hit a couple balls out of the ballpark, and our bullpen comes in and shuts it down. I love this team.”

In relief of Verlander, Hector Rondon allowed one run on two hits in the seventh but struck out Odor and DeShields to end the inning. Will Harris retired the Rangers in order in the eighth, and Roberto Osuna followed suit in the ninth.

David Barron reports on sports media, college football and Olympic sports for the Houston Chronicle. He joined the Houston Chronicle in 1990 after stints at the Dallas bureau of United Press International (1984-90), the Waco Tribune-Herald (1978-84) and the Tyler Morning Telegraph (1975-78). He has been a contributor to Dave Campbell's Texas Football since 1980, serving as high school editor from 1984 through 2000 and as Managing Editor from 1990 through 2004. A native of Tyler, he is a graduate of John Tyler High School, Tyler Junior College and The University of Texas at Austin.

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